Wildfire season is lengthening and officials are looking at alternative ways to fight the worsening crisis. The direction they're looking? Beavers.
Though it might sound surprising, beavers act as natural firefighters due to their innate behavior in building dams, and wildlife officials are restoring them in areas where their numbers have decreased for just this reason.
According to Dr. Emily Fairfax, an ecohydrologist, there's a science in how beaver dams impact the landscape.
"They are in the mountains, they're in the deserts, they're in the valleys, they're in the rivers, the lakes, they're in cities," Fairfax said of beavers.
Fairfax said beavers are uniquely equipped to help stop wildfires by fighting fire with water, as their dams act like speed bumps.
“When beavers move into a landscape, their number one order of business is to create a wetland," Fairfax explained. “Those dams slow the water down, they keep it on the landscape longer. That gives the water time to sink down into the soil and sort of build up this big, soggy sponge on the earth."
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Those wet areas also help other animals, since they can act as a refuge within the fire zone for those who can't escape the flames. In fact, Dr. Fairfax says in her report that these wet zones that have beaver activity were three times less affected by wildfires in Idaho, Oregon, California, Colorado, and Wyoming.
Wildfire, in itself, has beneficial aspects and is a necessary ecological process that resets the landscape. But on a warming planet, wildfire season is getting worse and more land is at risk due to hotter, drier weather.
To Fairfax, there's a way to help mitigate this issue by using nature's ready-made solutions; “We don't have to tell them to do it. We don't have to pay them to do it. They just do it and it's good and it's helping the planet."
